just 11 days until Christmas...

And I'm taking off next week... just tomorrow to work and then I'm free until the day after boxing day... we had a big gnosh at work yesterday.. turkey, ham and all the fixin's... management does it every year.. they get a turkey or two, and ham or two.. 50 lbs of potatoes, 50 pounds of carrots, 50 pounds of turnips and cook'em all up for a big feast.. gotta say that the drowsiness caused by turkey is not inducive (or is that conducive?) to working in the afternoon...

Well, I didn't get an interview...

Well R has finished our front room.. here are some before pictures.. we had this tv cabinet given to us.. it was fine for the time being and my tv fit in it but when my tv broke and we got an new one it didn't fit in the old cabinet... and that's where the renovating began.. we decided to replace the tv cabinet, and thought that matching coffee table and end tables would look nice.. and while we were at it decided to paint the walls... the first two pics from last xmas show the room as it was...



As you can see the walls are green... a rather darkesh green that made spending time in that room at night very depressing... it was like a cave.. and during the day the light didn't seem to penetrate too well into our room of doom.. and it had a hideous paper border that had to go... once we removed the boarder we discovered that the paint color under the border was a completely different color... iiick... I had my crafts everywhere and you could barely see the laminate floors underneath the clutter....


this is our new and improved living room.. we painted the walls a wonderful sandy peachy warm but bright color... and the new entertainment centre and livingroom tables all tied in together.. I just love sitting in that room and taking in the ambiance... I feel immediately calm and relaxed there... and the new tv fits the new stand very well... the wall color matches all the woodwork and seems to compliment every color imaginable...


And this is R's chair that he brought over from Frederiction (he has a matching set) and the rust color could never be matched with anything before but it fits right in now.. I'm so loving that wall color (I'm so glad I picked it!!!! Maybe I can become a decorator... lol)...


And my crafts have been moved upstairs to the computer room (a spare bedroom) where we have constructed a crafting/sewing area in one end of the room... and the walls have been painted the same color... love love love it... althought I'm still trying to track down some of my crafts to organise on the shelves... I have stuff spread all over the house...


I didn't get an interview in Records.. I was reminded that the last time the job came up I wasn't qualified because I didn't have Office Studies (never mind that I've worked 20 years in what?.... AN OFFICE!!)... bunch a' turnips... oh well, now I'm thinking that I'm going to be retiring soon so what the hell... I'm starting to feel like every other gov't employee that's near retirement thinking "how can I do as little as possible and still get paid?".. *I've discovered that if you look busy enough you can practically do nothing and noone knows... shhhhhh... well at least I think they don't know... * and I do enjoy working where I'm at and the pay ain't half bad so I thought that I'd keep plugging on...

One step closer to a new job...

Well, my late friend's job in the Records Section has come up for competition. So I spent the day doing up my resume and job application on line. And WOW, I didn't realise how much work experience I had. The ironic thing about it is that when I started in Government it was in the very department where I'm applying for this particular job.. albiet it was 20 years ago and the job has changed quite a bit since then but the whole concept is the same. I'm going to sleep on the application tonight, give it a once over tomorrow and then send it along. I'll keep you updated on how things go.

I've switched my blogs to the new Beta

I much prefer the new beta.. and now my three blogs are all linked...

New Blogger in Beta

I created a new blog in Beta... just to check it out.. will let you know how it compares to this one later on... here's the url to it.. I just started it so be gentle... lol

http://lemonadefromlifeslemons.blogspot.com/

Last Night.....

Last night I took my friend out to eat and to a movie.. it was a lot of fun and the movie was light and funny... we hadn't gone anywhere special to eat but I enjoyed getting back together and catching up on how her and her family were doing.. but at the end of the night she did something that shocked me... she asked me if she could borrow $60.00... it felt so wrong on so many levels.. for one thing I have just recently been able to pull myself out of a money pit hell.. and she knows that... I took her out with money that I had saved.. and paid for everything, even the popcorn and pop at the movies (can you believe the ungodly prices they charge for a small popcorn and small pop nowadays.. !!)... I felt that it was almost a slap in the face for her to ask me that.. I politely refused but the silence for a while after that was deafening... I'm still a little shaken about the whole incident.. I know she must be hurting for money but still ... I wish she hadn't done that.. am I over reacting? It really left a bad taste in my mouth...

Try this game.. it's hilarious...

Go to google and put in your name and the word NEEDS.. it's hilarous the things that come up... I tried it and this is the 10 hits that I got..

1. Kathy needs .... lungs... (I would think that would be a given????)
2. Kathy needs ... eating in (in what?)
3. Kathy needs... to be on more talk shows (well.... yeah!)
4. Kathy needs.. Vee and Vee needs Kathy (hmmmm I hope Vee is a guy)
5. Kathy needs.. to tackle if she wants off the D-List (ohhhhh kayyyy???)
6. Kathy needs... to make an updated version of her DVD (I have a DVD .. how come noone told me)
7. Kathy needs.. to reconsider her menu prices (yeah.. they're too low)
8. Kathy needs... refills for many of her perscriptions, but her three different doctors all need her to come in for an office visit before re-prescribing (I have three different doctors for a reason people)
9. Kathy needs.. to recognise the benefit of using a two-inch or lower heel during her workday (using it for what?)
10. Kathy needs.. more self-confidence (you think?)

And with Kathryn

1. Kathryn Needs to give Heather lots of Dove Chocolate Bars.
2. Kathryn needs to run some errands or just plain get out of the house
3. Kathryn needs to execute her plan to stop the train very precisely, because if she miscalculates, she will be launching fully loaded freight cars all over
4. Kathryn Needs To Learn
5. Kathryn needs to go down for her first nap 3 hours after wakening
6. Kathryn needs a husband to save her from her uncle's marriage schemes ...
7. Kathryn needs someone who is going to give her a lot of attention and love, and who will continue working on her little feet
8. Ask A Real Guy: Kathryn needs help
9. Kathryn needs a birthday song, too!
10. and my favorite.... Kathryn needs prozac

I did it.. wrote the email...

On Saturday night I took the big step.. I emailed management to tell them that I was going to discontinue working in the cash office and that they would have to train someone to take my place.. and suprisingly they took it well... it wasn't an easy thing to do because my job has been what has defined me for a long time.. and I took a lot of pride in a job well done.. but at the same time I now feel like I'm being used and the fact that I'm getting paid the same as the clerks that just work the counter has really started to bug me... It's funny, at one time I was very possessive of my job.. I didn't want anyone else to learn it as well as I did because I didn't want to give up the control.. but now I'm at a point where I want out... not just out of the cash office but I want to retire.. but that will be a few years in the making.. five at least.. so for now, anything that will lessen the pressure and stress is good for me...

Today was the day that I was supposed to start my morning walks with my sister. We walk a short distance from my work along a walking path that was created just for that and my sister, who's retired, takes her dog Toby with her.. makes a great way to start the morning and I'm hoping that getting some regular exercise will help to get rid of some the the flab I've accumulated over the last couple of years... But it was not to be.. you see, it started to rain... hard.. so hopefully it will clear off in the morning and we can start... R has been walking Missy and so he's getting a little exercise.. now it's my turn..

R and I have decided to do a cookathon on the weekends, we prepared a meatloaf, about 8 pork chops, and a big pot of potatoes. Then we did up some plates and froze them.. we put some frozen veggies in each one before we froze them and they are to be used during the week.. Next weekend we plan on cooking a variety of chicken dishes... that way we can overlap the frozen meals and as time goes on we can have a whole variety.. and it's more healthy to do them ourselves because we know what's in each one.. also we can control portion sizes, I find if I'm hungry I tend to prepare more food then we need... The chops were delish, I prepared them with some golden mushroom soup over top in the roaster... mmmm tender and tastey...

I called my best friend, L, who I'm ashamed to say I haven't seen for a very long time.. since we moved out to the country I just come home and crash... and a drive back into the city is not something I want to do... so I decided on the weekend that I would call L and ask her if she wanted to go out for dinner and a movie, my treat.. so Wednesday is the day... So I'm staying in for dinner and we're going to the movies after... should be great catching up on the news...

New plans.. gonna get the work monkey off my back...

btw, there is no job waiting in the office I was at yesterday.. so until one opens up I'm stuck where I am....

So after thinking about how much less stressful it was working there yesterday I decided, after a lot of thought, to give up my job in the cash office and just work on the counter... there's a woman that has been asking to be trained in the cash office for a long time and I checked with her today and she's still interested so tomorrow or early next week I'm going to be sending an email off to my manager and the director, telling them that they will have to start training someone soon because in the near future I want out of there.. It's not worth risking my health (I have high blood pressure) and happiness for a job that doesn't pay any more than working on the counter alone.. so soon I will be going to work, wait on customers and that will be it.. no more going above and beyond and getting nothing extra on my paycheck for it..

Well I got to see how the other half lives...

Today I was asked to work (and I use that word loosely) in one of our smaller branch offices because most of the staff were going to a funeral.... so it was me and one other girl most of the morning and another one in the afternoon... In our main office we have a staff of 11 and a number machine that rings out the customer's number directing them to the appropriate wicket for service... and the bell is constantly ringing and most times it's the never ending "NEXT"... with hardly a moment for a breather... and the fact that I work in the cash office in the mornings every second week adds to the stress and sense of urgency to get at it and get it done...

Now today at the brance office I sat for the first two hours with narry a customer.. I chatted with the other clerks.. checked my office email.. got a coffee and sipped it slowly.. did some stretches at my desk... yawned a lot... such a hard life... and I probably waited on 15 customers all day.. compared to the 50 or so in the main office on a busy day... hmmmm and to think that they are getting the same pay as I am ... there's something wrong with this picture... I just can't put my finger on it..

So the possiblity of applying for a job in this office is becoming more attractive every day.. although it might drive me crazy not having anything to do all day... but it might cure the burning hole in my stomach and tension headaches.. and considering I'm planning on retiring in five years or so I think I could live with the non-stress for a few years.. don'cha think?

Ahhh the wonder of modern medicine...

I was getting ready to come home from work on Friday and I noticed that I had a pressure in my bladder.. nothing too bad but just something that I thought might develope into something if I'm not careful.. it takes me 20 to 25 minutes to drive home depending on the traffic.. I pull in the driveway and I'm starting to feel the pain.. get in and go to the toilet and the pain is bad and I have a tinge of blood in my urine.. and not more than a half an hour later it's pure blood... I had panic in my eyes when I told R that we needed to get to a night clinic.. like NOW!.. so we drive into Montague to their small hospital knowing that the line ups in the emerg. would be less than at the Charlottetown hospital or even a walk in clinic.. and we were right... in a little over an hour we were walking out of there with a perscription... for Sulfa Drugs... OMG!!!... I used to have a lot of bladder infections when I was younger and Sulfa Drugs were all that worked for me.. but I hated them... they always make me so sick to my stomach.. luckily I have two and a half days down of a total of 10...

What really shocked me was how fast the infection came on and developed into something that severe... I had felt fine all day.. no pain.. but I had been going to the bathroom more than usual.. and thinking back I had been going to bed a lot earlier the last few days because I was more tired.. but the infection went from zero to sixty in about an hour... but soon after I took the first pill it started to do it's magic... and the bleeding stopped.. now if I can just be sure to take all of the prescription so that I don't relapse.. but seriously *gag, double gag*

Fashion is fickle...

It seems every day there's a new fashion craze, like the fuggly new holey shoes or piercing every inch of human flesh and tatooing where you gotta admit it gotta hurt like hell to get thousands of sharp, ink laiden needles jammed under the surface of your skin... not to say that the fashion of my generation was any better (although I've noticed that a lot of the styles have come back in style *gag*.. but I think I've come up with a new fashion accessory... it's warm, and get this, self cleaning ... it's actually angora (albiet short hair) so the snobbish can continue to look down their bobbed noses at the meer mortals that we are.. My new invention is called the catsock... and I predict it will be the latest trend.. get yours while it's hot *or at least snuggly and warm*

Back to work today...

Well at least I had the gloating over my car to look forward to... lol... I've been off of work for three weeks straight and within a couple of hours the old fingers of tension wrapped themselves around my neck... say it with me *I LOVE MY JOB... I LOVE MY JOB... OOOOMMMMM*.... I was worried that I would forget all my passwords and forget how to do one of the 200 plus job responsibilities... but no such luck.. it was shoulder to the wheel once again... *how many days did you say it was until my retirement?"... This is a very cold thing to say but a woman that worked in the Record section of another department in our building died and I'm wondering if I should apply for her job... and she's barely cold in the grave.. *shudder*... What is this job turning me into?....

We got a car today....

We got our car today.. *doing a little happy dance*
We made our final decision on the car and got it today instead of waiting for November.. we used my car as a trade in and the fact that Arkay was in the services saved us $500.00... So we don't have to make a payment this month and no down payment besides the trade in... We leased instead of buying and this car is on a four year lease...

This is the color of our car and it's a 2007 Saturn Ion Quad Coupe... We don't have a spoiler on ours but it is loaded... we got A/C, CD player, cruise control, keyless entry, alarm, power windows and locks, and you can adjust the mirrors from inside.. there are probably a few other things that I can't think of right now...

They call it a Quad Coupe because there is a half door on the back on each side that opens the opposite way to the front doors (like the old suicide doors from the old old cars) there is no handle for it on the outside or the inside, you have to open the front door and the handle is in between the doors... very cool...

This is the interior.. see all the pretty dials and stuff... lol... and it has the most heavenly new car smell... mmmmmmm.... (I'm easily pleased...lol)...

Holidays almost over!

This is my last week of holidays and we've accomplished a lot in the last couple of weeks...

the upstairs floors are done as well as the den floor.. this is a picture of the color of the den flooring, it's darker than the flooring we have on the upstairs.. We got ourselves a screen door for the side door which R is going to install once we get the bifold doors back on the hall coat closet. We bought a water tank for the basement and we're having a plumber in on Friday to replace the one in the basement that's always getting waterlogged (the new one has a bladder inside that holds the prime better).. we got some fake brick to put around our flower beds in a yard sale for $10.00 a box.. We had an electrician in to fix the wiring in one of the upstairs bedrooms, he said the wiring in the house is aluminum and it tends to expand and contract and gets loose over time..

We also took a bunch of cars out for test drives including Toyota Yaris and Corolla, Honda Civic and Fit, Saturn Ion, Dodge Caliber and a Mazda 3... my personal favorite is the Honda Civic, with the Saturn Ion next and then the Toyota Yaris.. I'm pretty sure we're going to go with the Ion on a lease and it's going to be in November some time.

I got some shocking news today.. a coworker died in her sleep last week.. as far as we know she was perfectly healthy (although obviously not)... her husband came home in the morning from work to find her in bed and decided to go out for coffee and when he got back she was still in bed and he decided to go wake her up and found out she had died.. how terribly shocking is that!! I can't even imagine how he must have felt!!

Found out one of the branch offices are against us going for a reclassification!!!! It was a complete shock.. but then again they are a very small office with very few customers so I really don't think that they deserve a raise anyway... when they send someone in to help out if we're short staffed the employee can't do any of the work so we have to put her on the camera to take pictures or to do straight renewals.. really pisses me off that she's getting paid the same as the rest of us but does diddly squat.. she told one of the girls that he main job consisted of stocking the break room!!!! We have our reclass request passed in to the manager and director and they said that they need a couple of small changes and then it will be ready to go.. will let you know if there are any developements...

At the starting of my vacation I went to one of my nieces' wedding and now at the end I'm going to one of my nephews' wedding... they are very practical and for the reception they are having a pot luck and I'm bringing homemade biscuits and pepper steak (if I can find the darned recipe!)... I made him something and won't post a picture of it until after the wedding in case he reads this... :o)

I sorted out my closets and bureaus and packed up three garbage bags of clothes, and threw out some more stuff that wasn't fit to wear and took the clothes over to my daughter so she could sort through it then contact my sister to take the rest to her church to distribute....

Took our dog Missy for a walk one morning to the end of our road where the farmer has a track to exercise their race horses and when we were walking around the track I looked down and saw some HUGE coyote tracks (the coyotes here are cross bred with wolves so they are much larger than a normal coyote).. I'm glad that we didn't come in contact with that beast.. apparently their mare won't let the foal go down to the river to drink because she's scared of the coyotes.. can't blame her at all...

I cleaned out my fridge, wish that you could press a button and it would miraculously clean itself.. I'm not lazy, just practical....

This woman is on a mission...

http://www.myspace.com/mgchs check out this blog.. it is written by a great woman who, to raise money to build a new animal shelter, has agreed to spend 30 days (the month of September) in a cage like one of the animals in the shelter and she will be writing about her experiences. In the beginning it tells about her family dropping her off at the shelter... some people do amazing things for a cause..

House Renovations

I don't know how this happened but the pics went out of order.. well as you can see the laminate flooring is now down on the upstairs bedroom, hall and bathroom.. R did an excellent job of laying it so that he didn't have to put a joiner between the hallway and the spare bedroom and the hallway and the bathroom.. since the pictures are sort of out of sinc I hope you can see which ones are which..

I have the first one is of the yucky bathroom and then one of the bathroom with the new floor, but I don't think it's right after but the third one down... anyway, I'm sure you can figure that out.. I found the laminate floor really brightened up the bathroom and our toilet has a wooden seat that that sort of matches (personally I HATE the wooden seat because I never feel like it's clean enough.. ewww)... and the harvest gold crappy color of the fixtures actually looks kind of nice against the faux Oak.. we're putting a boat type sealer on the bathroom floor to prevent the laminate from getting water damage and are putting a quarter round around the edges as well...

Somewhere in there are pics of the hallway and it's a big improvement over the subfloor that was all that was left once we lifted the crappy carpet a couple of years ago (we tried lifting the subfloor and saw there was a wood floor underneath but alas it was a soft wood floor and for some odd reason there was big spaces between the individual pieces.. this is a very old home so we were hoping that there was hardwood floor under the subfloor but boo hoo we were wrong)....

Then there are a couple of pics of the spare bedroom (forgive the mess because I was so exited about the floors being finished that I didn't tidy up completely before I took the pics). I really love the color of the flooring and now we'll have to repaint up here because the baby blue in the bedroom does not do the floor justice... We have to touch up the baseboard and put quarter round everywhere up here as well but it sure picks up the look and feel of the house...
Now we have to do the den.. the flooring we got for down there is a bit darker faux oak and should looke really nice against the brick wall behind the wood stove... Will post pics as we get that down.. We have to get some sort of ceramic tile for the entry way because some times we get snow, etc around the doorway in the winter and if we get a really high wind and rain against that door it will leak a bit.. So the laminate will not do for that.. It really gives you a boost to get some improvements done on the house..

Yesterday was my niece's wedding.. they were going to have it on the beach but it rained.. hard... and it was cold.. so they had it in a shelter.. and then there was a beautiful double rainbow... a good sign I would say... they also had a sand ceremony where they poured sand from two single jars into a large jar and the mingling of the sand represented their union in marriage ...

Then everyone went to their house for a reception.. and while there I was talking to one of my sisters about my other sister's son (she has two sons whose names start with "A" so sometimes I get them mixed up).... I got an invitiation to A#1's wedding and my sister said did you hear A#2's engaged?.. I said you mean A#1.. and she said no, I meant A#2.. *now I was confused because A#2's gay* and I opened my mouth and said "Is he engaged to a guy?"... well duh... I felt like rewinding the last two minutes and starting over again... color me embarrased...

BTW I have no idea if she liked the painting because she didn't open her gifts while I was there...

Thanks to Earl I've now included a Site Counter..

And erm.. I don't have the success of his.. in fact, I think I'm the only one reading it of late.. lol.. oh well... that way I can be as blunt and forthcoming as I want without the fear of tons of people reading it.. but it does slightly ding my ego a bit... and I no have a bit of the "nobody loves me" syndrome.. phhttt... all of you that would like to stroke my ego should send their dollars to Kathryn D at - - - - - - ...

If anyone's interested

If anyone's interested I finished the portrait for my niece here http://thecreativelifeofkathryn.blogspot.com/ I must say that I'm pleased with how it turned out.. check it out and give me your opinion (ok only if it's positive.. phhhttt)...

Shopping for the house

Not to get a house because we have one.. but shopping for stuff for the house.. yesterday R and I went into town to check out the Building Centres for flooring for our upstairs bedroom (where we have our computers and spend a lot of time) and went to three places to check on prices, we also wanted to get tiles for the upstairs bathroom.. we bought this place three years ago, it's an older home in the country and needs a lot of work.. including a new window in this bedroom as well as the flooring..

Anyway, we checked out the Home Hardware and saw some really different click tile, it's like laminate flooring but it has a black textured finish on it and it was 99cents a square foot.. not a bad price ( down from 2.89 a square foot and underlay for $25.00 for 200 sq feet) but we had to buy the whole lot of tile and it was an odd amount..

Next we went to the Kent Building Centre and saw some laminate flooring on for 87 cents a square foot that was nice (and underlay for $20.00 for 200 sq feet).. the guy who waited on us told us that they had some end lots in the back that he could give us a good deal on.. almost the same but a bit darker in color.. a faux oak.. and he said he'd give it to us for 65 cents a square foot .. we said we'd take the 13 boxes they had left, got him to put our name on it to hold it until we could get the trailer to take it home and noticed that there were other boxes laying around of laminate flooring..

Then we went to the Home Depot and checked their stuff out.. they had laminate flooring for 99 cents a square foot and underlay for $29.00 for 200 sq feet... and tile for around 45 cents a square foot but for that you need to buy grout and stuff to stick it down...

So we went home and on the way decided to get enough laminate flooring from Kent to do the bedroom upstairs, the hallway, bathroom, the entryway downstairs, the den and underlay for the whole thing and it only cost us a bit less than $600.00 for the whole thing... and R's going to lay it all down himself and it doesn't need to be glued down or nailed .. I'm very happy with the purchase and it will make a huge difference it the look of the house... will post some before and after pics later..

Work in progress in my other blog

I have a link back to a provious post but I'm working on a painting in my other blog called The Creative Life of Kathryn and I plan on having it done by the end of August, or perhaps earlier.

getting better every day....

This old body is recovering nicely, thank you for asking... my neck is mostly ok now but my right arm is a bit stiff, I think it's from overcompensating the last couple of days.. but it looks good for going back to work tomorrow... big whoop...

Over the last few weeks I've taken the time to sit down and type out all the services we provide, the departments we provide services for etc, and the numbers are astounding.. we provide over 200 services for 20 seperate government departments and 28 or so divisions.. we provide services for 7000 customers and we take in from 100, 000 to close to a million dollars every month in our office alone... that freakin' blows my mind.. and we're very much underpaid for what we do.. the reason we were getting all this information together was because we are trying to be reclassified.. granted we're getting paid a lot more than the private sector here in this province but they keep heaping on new duties without raising our rate of pay and I don't think that's right... we should be ready to present this information to the board in a couple of weeks.. and if it doesn't create some change I know a lot of people whose morale is going to be rock bottom.. and a few who may end up going on stress leave soon.. not that the money would releave the stress that much but at least it may attract more people to want to work in our department if our wages matched the work done... we'll see how that goes...

owwww my neck hurts

Well, I thought that I was going to be heading off to work today, but when the alarm rang this morning I rolled over to turn it off and when I got 2/3 of the way over and was reaching out my hand I suddenly felt a sharp pain shoot up from my neck to the top of my head and down my side to my hip, My neck is now locked, I took some Tylenol even tho I'm not supposed to because of my ulcer and I'm using heat even tho it;s hot in here this AM. And it's hard typing with one hand so I'll stop now.

It's over

I'm back from the hospital, rested up and had my first full meal.. and the news was good .. with the colonoscopy the doctor found no polyps, no inflamation and best of all, no cancer.. whew... and the gastroscopy did find inflamation and he gave me a perscription for that and wants to see me in October for a follow up in that regards.. so if I keep feeling well tomorrow then I'll be off to work but it's a Friday so even if I feel weak it's only for one day so I think I can handle it..

I had a weak spell waiting for the doctor to come in and give me the results but once I got home and had some soup (I know, more soup but at least this was chicken noodle with a bit of substance to it) and I slept for around three hours and now I'm feeling back to normal... so thankfully I won't be talking about bm's or that stuff now. And that stuff they give you to kill the pain and so you don't remember didn't completely work because I remember a lot of pain... but at least it's over, for now anyway...

today's the day

Well, today's the day... all the purging and fasting is done, well the purging anyway.. my stomach is talking again.. but I think it's just grumbling because the test isn't until 10 AM... and that's 2 and 1/2 hours from now... we leave for the hospital in about 1 and 1/2 hours (need to be there 1/2 hour before the procedure in order for them to prep me).. A bit nervous.. but all in all I think I'll survive the wait... at least I'm not full of shit anymore....lol..

day two almost done

The second day of cleansing and purging is almost over.. my stomach is talking to me all the time.. goading me into eating something solid.. like new potatoes and pork.. yeah I can almost taste it .... mmmm PEI new potatoes ... STOP!!! STOP!!... OK I think I'll be alright now.. tomorrow is the big day.. the day of the enema.. oooo can't wait.. have you ever noticed that when you have to go two and a half days without solid food that 9 out of 10 commercials on TV are about food?... interesting phenomenon that is... I should be at the hospital from 9:30 until about noon.. I wonder if they'll feed me.. seems to me that the last time they didn't.... bastards... I'm trying not to think of all the possible problems that could have caused the symptoms that warranted this procedure.. gotta think positive.. probably just a polyp... just a polyp that's been bleeding since February.. yeah.. that's it.. but then again.. I do tend to dramatize things a bit.. so maybe it is nothing.. that's what I'm telling myself till told otherwise..

The cleansing has begun..

First day of my bowel cleansing and fasting.. *sorry to any of you that are in the process of having breakfast, on second thought, since my breakfast consisted of jello and water - fuck you*.. I had big plans for today and tomorrow but found out that if any of my plans consisted of doing anything farther than 10 steps from either bathroom they're out... ain't life a bitch?...

Do you have dreams that you have over and over again?... in some way do you think that these dreams have some kind of deep meaning and that perhaps they will come true?.. I had a dream last night that I've been having for years, I dreamt that when I left my car in an unfamiliar part of town (I don't think it was here tho' because there are no unfamiliar parts of town because the town's so small).. anyway, I parked my car in a deserted parking lot and went to the doctor's office and when I came back there were a bunch of guys around the car and they had a tow truck and some other vehicles, I was going to go over and get in my car but I just had a bad feeling about it and thought that they might hurt me and decided to call the police on my cell phone instead. As I watched they were talking about how their girlfriends would like the car and I was thinking "it's a 1995 Tercel guys, give me a break, steal something better than that"... and for some reason I had to move where I couldn't see them and when I moved bach my car was gone and I was thinking "how the hell am I going to get home?"... it was the worst feeling in the world. Oh and btw, the police never did show up. I don't know why I keep getting this dream but I seem to have it a lot. Weird eh.

Wow are my fingers tired!

It seems like I've been typing forever, I've taken today as a full day of getting our work duties down on paper for our application for a reclassification. I'll fill you in on the number of departments and divisions we have to do work for as well as the number of duties/services involved, I think that even I'll be surprised in the end when all the numbers are crunched. We may not get any results from all the work but at least it's worth a try. I volunteered to do the typing at home because I knew that we'd never get it done at work because we barely have time to breathe much less work on extra work relating to a reclassification which I'm sure management isn't too keen on us trying for (they talk the talk about how they support us but in the end they don't walk the walk).

Since I'll be off for three days next week, at least, that will give me time to refine the work and give it a more polished, consistant look. and maybe the following week I can talk the staff into having another meeting after work to go over other areas that I'm not sure how to fill in the blanks.

We had the tail end of a tropical storm yesterday and stupid me forgot to close the upstairs window before we went to get groceries and the floor was all wet from the rain being blown in. I find it awfully hot today but I'm not sure if it's just me or not. I'm not a real big fan of hot weather, or should I say hot muggy weather but I know our temps are cool compared to some other places so I really shouldn't complain to much but who am I kidding, I love to complain.. lol.

You Learn Something New Every Day...

I didn't realise that if you clicked on the pictures here that it enlarges them to their original size.. who'd a' guessed?

The wedding went well

The wedding went off well, the weather was wonderful and I got misty a few times because they had a slide show of them growing up.. it was so cute and touching.. they are only around 30 years old and they have been dating for 14 years, have lived together for a year and are so very much in love.. in this day and age it's so good to see.. and the meal was only an hour late .. good thing a few of us went to the bar between the time of the wedding and the meal (a 3 hour span of time) and had some munchies... the meal was wonderful and during the meal instead of clicking glasses to get them to kiss the master of ceremonies said there was a wheel that people were to spin and perform some kind of trick before they would kiss.. some of the things were walk like a duck, ride a tricycle, sing a song, or donate money to the cancer society (they had family members die of cancer).. all in all it was fun and very cute.. but during the wedding ceremony I almost lost it because on the back of the booklet they had made up saying who was in the church service the groom had put this to his late mother..

"My Wedding Day Wishes For My Mom"
If the sun is high and bright on my wedding day
I know that you have made it so, you want it just that way.
The warmth of your love will flood from you along with the heat of the sun;
sharing that wonderful moment with us, a day filled with bliss and fun.
But if the rain is pouring down, I'll know that they are tears from you,
though within your heart's heart you smile.
Sorrow because you cant be here, to see your son a joyful groom.
Mother I hope you're happy for me, that I fill your heart with pride.
I'd like the day to start warm and bright, 'til my love and I wed,
then the tiniest of heaven's tears to fall upon the wedding party's heads,
then for the sun to return again as the photographs are took
and I'd know for sure you'd be watching me and to heaven I would look.

Oh My Gawd.. I'm breaking down typing this.. sentimental old fool that I am...

On a lighter note.. the bride mistakenly put the grooms ring on the wrong hand.. and she said after the ceremony outside "Do you think it's still legal?"... too cute..

Saturday

I'm without Tylenol for 5 days now.. and "knock on wood" I'm not too bad yet.. although I did get quite sore when we went grocery shopping last night.. we'll see how well I fare at the wedding, etc.. the wedding's at 3, and the meal is at 6:30.. (with coffee drinking and snacking in between to kill time)... but the temperature is only supposed to go up to 21degrees.. I'll believe that when I see it.. I was going to do some weeding of my gardens this weekend but it looks like that ain't gonna happen because I won't have time today and I sure ain't gonna do it tomorrow on my birthday.. sheesh...

My weekend to come...

I'm going to a wedding tomorrow, a coworker is getting married and invited me to the wedding, dinner and dance.. problem is that she didn't invite our mates to the dinner because she only could invite a limited number of people.. our mates could come to the wedding and dance though but R's not really interested because he doesn't know a lot of people.. and that I can understand because I'm not much of a party person myself but since she invited me and she's a sweet girl I decided to go although I'm not staying for the dance.. we all chipped in at work and got her a couple of things.. not sure what so I'll be doing the "ahh nice" thing along with her when she opens them.. (Do they open the gifts at the reception or later at home?.. I forget). It promises to be fun and I hope it's not too hot...

Sunday's my birthday and we're going to be spending the day at home.. my choice.. we bought this house in the country three years ago and I remembered thinking that it's sooo far from town that I'd feel isolated but I love living here.. I work with the public everyday and it's a real effort once I get home to go back out again for anything.. I know, I'm pathetic and sad.. but I'd rather rest, regroup and rejuvenate at home...

Another day.. another outlook on life...

Back to work today, I'm no longer on the Tylenol Arthritis and thought for sure that I'd be crippled with pain.. but gratefully not.. and I think I'm going to be ok in that area at least for the time being..

I took some pics of my flower gardens and my Lilies are in bloom.. all colors and sizes.. I just love them because they are so perfectly shaped. Today they were covered with water drops and the color was very intense under an overcast sky.. not washed out like it sometimes can be in bright sunlight.. and in the last picture my cat is doing her daily ritual of walking along the stones placing each delicate foot precisely in front of the other... I'm sure she rustles around in the centre of the garden when I'm not looking but if I don't see it it didn't happen.. (humor me ok..)...

I'm so tired lately...

Stress does terrible things to your body.. I'm tired all the time.. have aches and pains... can't sleep or if I do get to sleep I don't want to wake up.. I'm sitting here with a headache and I can't keep my eyes open and it's not even 9PM... makes me feel so old.. and I have no energy to do anything... fuck I hate feeling like this... now I gotta go lie down for a few hours before my head hits the keys... later...

some of my sketches are on my other blog...

I'll leave this one for my rambling commentaries and the other blog.. The Creative Life of Kathryn for putting my paintings, drawings etc.. check it out

These are the horse pics that I'm going to be doing as sketches once I get my other work done and I have some goat pics that are kind of cute as well as some geese.. will post in the next entry.









I just love this guy's eyelashes.

It's another milestone..

R and I have been together 5 years as of Canada Day, so to celebrate we get to witness fireworks every year.. pretty neat eh? It feels sort of surreal that we've been living together so long .. in one way it feels like it's still so new and in other ways it seems like we've been together forever. Five years isn't bad for a relationship that started as a one night stand/roll in the hay. I would have to say that we've been pretty compatable since day one and since our likes and dislikes match to a tee then I think that I'll keep the old geezer... Yesterday we went to the Historic Village that's next to our place and saw the animals, the sheep were pretty interested in Missy.. might have thought that she was one of their own... lol.. I also get some wonderful shots of horses that would make nice pencil sketches...

My head is screwed back on tightly now...

and there's no fear of it spinning wildly in all directions shooting bolts of lightning around the room.. But alas the "we'll give you all the time you need" speech was very short lived.. today the Manager kept coming in every half hour or so asking me when I'd be done... the place was jammed with customers (over 420 for the day) and I could understand her being anxious for me to come back out.. but come on... she had to know that the more she did that the more tense it was making me... but the day's over and the long weekend is upon us... thank God!!

To add to the stress I had an appointment with the specialist yesterday (I've been bleeding from my bowel since the middle of February, not every day but on and off maybe once a week or so... and now I have to go in to get another scope (I had one done about two years ago and found it an unpleasant experience but not unbearable) and this time he wants to do a different scope, this time down my throat as well to see if I may have some stomach problems. So I'll be probed from both ends.. I know, the visuals leave something to be desired... I told R that I hope they don't use the same scope for both procedures, especially if they do the bowel one first... I know, more visuals... sorry... Since there's a history of bowel cancer (my mom) and other cancers in my family he doesn't want to wait and will push to have me in for it before the end of the summer... Wish me luck..

Well it finally happened.. the dams broke today and my nerves got the better of me.. my boss was telling me that the job in the cash office was taking too long and that it wasn't acceptable to have to take the whole morning to do the cash... and wanted to know what needed to be done to make things faster... she kept saying it "wasn't acceptable that we were taking so long"... well this person, who's normally the rock and takes things in stride, finally broke.. and I started to cry and couldn't stop.. in fact I had to come home to settle down..

My manager kept apologising and saying that I was doing an excellent job and they didn't know what they would do without me.. and she said the reason that the time wasn't acceptable was because the new system was supposed to make the job quicker and in fact it's taking twice as long.. and she agreed to let us have as much time as I needed to get the job done.. (I know I ended up making her feel like shit but I couldn't help it)

I'm still very emotional because I felt at the time that she was telling me that I wasn't doing my job and in fact that I was slacking off.. which couldn't be further from the truth.. most mornings when I'm in the cash office I don't even get away for a break .. She said it was good in a way that I broke down because it gives her more of an idea what we're going through where as before she thought we had it all under control because I was always so calm.. She begged me to come in tomorrow even if it was for the morning because the other cashier is off then and the next week.. So I'll give it a try but I hope I feel better because quite a while ago (about 10 years or so).. I had to take 2 and 1/2 months off because of stress and I really don't want to deal with that shit again... Kat

Slow this sucker down and let me off...

Today was an official day from hell...

Our "new and improved" computer program hasn't worked correctly since day one.. and working in the cash office this week has been an experience in detective work trying to search on a multitude of platforms to find a $20.00 overage amongst over $600,000.00 in revenue (and that was yesterdays not to mention Fridays that we are still trying to balance before we can close the site cash for that particular day)... can you say frustrating?.. and to top it off our manager was coming in on a regular basis asking when I would be done so that I could come out on the counter... no pressure mind you... I came this close to saying "You think this shit is easy.. well you do it biatch" and sucker punching her to shut her up.. being in management she doesn't grasp the concept that adding pressure in an already frustrating and pressure cooker stress environment is maybe not a good idea... ya' think?...

And we won't even mention the fact that the bosses pet was sitting around chatting with everyone that would listen about her kids' field trips and bitching about her ex... like stop everything and listen people.. the almighty have spoken... (no bitterness here.. nooooo)...

And how was your day?...

Yesterday I printed off all the services that we provide for other departments and 190 some services is a big pile'o paper... we're trying to have our job reclassified and will attempt to make it a seperate catagory so the union guy wants us to have all our services in detail .. by the end of the month.. ummmm I think that's a little soon.... it may take at least a month... or more...

My boy has gone back out west for the summer to work.. managed to see him for a few hours the day before he left.. he'll be back here one the east coast in the fall..

Mmmmm RK just made me a smoothy with frozen fruit and juice... hits the spot on a hot day.. and may even cure my bitchiness... gotta love him.

We're into summer like weather already...

Although I enjoy the spring and the winter leaves me cold (literally) and fall is wonderful here on the east coast, summer, strangely, is not my favorite time of year.... the heat and humidity leave me drained and cranky... I have long since given up my morning walks and it has set off a vicious circle.. I'm too tired to walk and by not walking it makes me tired... so you see the pattern... but I can't get the ambition to haul this sorry butt out of the house any earlier than 7:15 in the AM... and I would have to leave at least an hour earlier to be able to get the walking in... procrastination is a sin... and I'll be damned to hell... in the early spring I could do it but it was only every third week so I could get myself moving then but now that we're on the 8AM shift every day for the summer I really can't get myself motivated... I know whine whine whine..

We're gonna have the heat finally..

This weekend is gonna be hot and humid, love the heat, the humid I could do without.. but at least the rain stopped for a while. And all creepy crawly crab spiders called Freddy aside (David I decided to name it Frederick, Freddy for short, sort of suits him/her.. phhtt), I think it's gonna be a garden day tomorrow.

I've gotten back to my painting and have the base of a welcome rock done.. I'll be glad to get them done and out of the way.. I'm hoping that they don't want any more done because I want to get the horse portrait finished.. I'm such a procrastinator because if I really wanted to I could be doing the protrait and the pencil sketches I was planning on doing even without the rocks finished but in my block of a head I feel that I have to do the commissions first before I attempt the other stuff I have to do (which I started right after Christmas..).. now where is the logic in that and how productive is that?... not... can you say AVOIDANCE?... I'm such a dweeb when it comes to these things.. I have no amount of order in my life and no consistancy at least not in my home life (where it really counts after all because my life is where I live and work is where I ... well, work)...

I have completely given up going for walks with my sister because it would mean leaving at 6 fuckin' 30 in the morning to be in town for 7 ish to get at least 45 minutes of walking in before I have to go to work.. so that means getting up earlier than the 5 am that I get up now in order to get my bath, breakfast, grooming and making my lunch all jammed in not to mention having at least one cup of coffee to get my eyes open... I was doing it earlier in the spring but at least it was only for every third week but now it would be every week day.. and I'm sorry but I could be sleeping for that extra half hour to forty five minutes so my growing gut be damned.. I need some energy in the evening after work to keep R company and without having to go to bed before 9....

We're trying for a reclassification of our job, actually we're trying for a whole new classification from what we're classified at now and it's going to be a lot of work.. we have to break every service we provide down to every step in the process and with 198 services that's going to be one hell of a lot of work .. and the union guy told us to shoot for the end of the month to have it ready.. so it's going to mean on our own time because there's no way that we'll have the time to do it while waiting on 400 customers and learning the new computer program... ain't gonna happen... so I took some manuals home to write everything out ... but doubt that I'll get much done but at least I can be looking over the papers to see where we can break the stuff down into managable bits so that we can distribute amoungst the staff to work on.. we don't want to be duplicating the shit and waste more time than we need to ...

Well, at least it's Friday and I can sleep in tomorrow, how pathetic is that?...

Can anyone tell me what this is...

Well first off I know it's some kind of a spider so you don't have to state the obvious but does anyone know what kind it is?.. I saw it in my flower bed this afternoon when I was weeding the garden and I wasn't sure what kind it was.. sure is pretty for a nasty little thing like a spider.. which I hate btw with a passion.. if anyone out there knows leave a message (if indeed anyone reads this stuff I write beside you David.. no offense.. I love that you read my stuff.. lol)

Rainy weekend... again....

Here it is the weekend again and it's raining.. figures... I made a half assed attempt to weed the flower beds yet again this afternoon and managed to get a wheelbarrel and a half of weeds and choking flowers out before it started to rain.. and even managed to weed a bit when it was raining until the dog decided that it was enough for her and yapped at the door until I let her in.. guess she has more brains than I do...

I tried out a sunless tanning lotion on my white chicken legs to see if I can get some color in them and I think that I bought a lotion that's too light ... or maybe I have to use it a few times before my legs start to look like they have a bit more color... I bought the light/medium kind because I didn't want to look like I was bathing in it... lol... I find that my legs are the worse for not tanning in the summer, I guess it's because I enjoy being out in the sun but I like DOING things outside, not sitting and soaking up the rays, and some of my medications recommend that I not get too much sun .. beside there's too many mosquitoes around here to do that ...

Continue of sig reference below

The whole weekend was rain, rain and more rain.. R decided it was time to get a new computer on Saturday so off we go to buy a new computer.. we drove to another city (I use the term city loosely because here on PEI the cities would constitute a town in any other Province).. and the guy, although hard to decifer his Jamacian accent, seemed to be very down to earth and above board and R got a computer, monitor and the software plus the guy is installing the hard drive from his old computer so that R can transfer the files over at his leasure... and the computer should be here either today or tomorrow..

As I mentioned above we've been having rain all weekend and it's played havoc with my arthritis.. maybe I can move to Florida or maybe the dessert of something... mmmnnnnahhhh.. I can't stand too much heat and the winters here give us a welcome break from the heat of the summer, the falls are beautiful and spring is to die for, the multitude of shades of green would take your breath away... I love spring on PEI.. so if we didn't have all four seasons I would go nutso (well more than usual)

Where is it?

Where oh where did my mind go?.. I'm lucky that I had the where-with-all to find my way home.. I'm sooo tired I could puke. I got a little glimpse of hell today, and we get to do it all over again on Monday.. but at least we have the weekend off to rest up.. and it should take the whole weekend for me to feel at least half human again.. and it's supposed to rain all weekend.. oh joy. oh bliss.. that's my son's Bassett in the siggy.. that's how I feel... will someone please carry me to bed?

Can you take this? Can you take this?.. how about this?

Today at work was a test.. to see how much shit we can take without snapping , turning on each other and gnawing our limbs off to escape the jaws of a huge government leg trap.. never mind the fact that we processed over a cool half mil in property tax payments in one day in addition to the other monies taken on for other departments.. does that mean anything to the government?.. do any of us 10 employees on the front lines get a bonus or even a token prize for handling over 400 hundred customers and raking in all that revenue?..

you bet ya.. we get to come in a half an hour earlier tomorrow because they are launching a new computer program.. and to top it off we have to stay after and do up the deposit using the aforementioned new program.. and being that we're multi-tasking, multiple government service providing, work till we drop fools without the right to strike we gotta grin and bear it and take lots of nice happy pills to get us through the day..

Ain't working grand.. and people wonder why I'm planning my retirement?... Am I crazy? Have I lost my mind? why people are lining up to replace me... NOT!.. for some strange reason they can't find people to work in our department.. do you think it might be because we're over worked and underpaid?... hmm maybe not..

Mainly it's because we're loved by the public like all other government workers and the fact that JQ Pubic will have to wait for a longer period while we learn the new system shouldn't upset them too much considering we have pampered them over the last few years to the point that if they have to wait an extra 10 minutes they're tapping their toes and looking at their watches ... so tomorrow and the weeks to come will really prepare me for my holidays.. do you think that I'd be able to take an extra month or so off instead of the two weeks that I have planned?

I wish the lottery corporation would hurry up and draw our numbers like they promised.. you can't depend on anyone....

Who's Afraid - - - ? I am..

The dog, Missy (our super dog miniature poodle watch dog), was going nutso last night and then I heard some coyotes outside yelping.. and I asked RK if the cat was in the house.. and then I heard the most terrible sound imaginable of an animal screaming... it screamed and screamed for the longest time and my heart literally stopped because it sounded like a cat screaming.. so I rushed downstairs with the dog following and barking frantically.. I turned the lights on in the porch because the top part of the screen is ripped and Penny, the cat can jump up to the top part of the door and get into the porch so I figured she would be there if anywhere .. but she wasn't .. and then I went to the back door and turned the light on, all the while my heart was pounding in my chest.. and then I saw the cat coming towards the door with her ears back and her tail fluffed up in fear.. I opened the door and let her in and the dog was following her around and sniffing at her probably sensing her fear and feeding off mine..

I'm not sure if it was a neighbours cat that was killed or a raccoon but whatever it was I'll never forget that sound.. I know that the coyotes have to feed like any other animal to live but a lot of people are losing their pets because of them and now I'm terrified to let the dog out to use the bathroom at night now in case the coyotes are watching for a chance to get her.. and I'm scared to go out with her too...

Living in the country has it's darker sides too and that is one of them..

Just a side note here: Contrary to the belief of scientists that coyotes and wolves are mortal enemies.. the coyotes in our fair isle are inbred with wolves so they are larger than a normal coyote by about half (scientist have done dna testing on coyotes here and have proven that they have indeed crossed with wolves to make a super coyote).. they say that since there are no natural enemies here (except for the pissed off cattle and sheep farmers that is) and since the largest carnivors here are foxes, the coyote/wolves have really taken over and are at the top of the food chain... Lots of domestic animals and pets have fallen prey to them and the harder the people try to wipe them out with bounties etc, the more they breed and the larger the population becomes.. Interestingly enough we've lived here for three years and this is the first time that I've heard them and I've never seen one yet and I sort of hope I never do...

Third Time a Charm?

I've started this entry two other times this long weekend.. but got sidetracked by the fact that myself and R have fucked up our new high speed network big time..

Used my son's vast computer know-how to fix most of the problems (this while using messenger to talk to him) but one computer is still out of the network and we're too embarassed to call the installers of the high speed to come back and try to fix our mistake.. in addition R's in the market for a new computer and we think that the problem will be solved once that's done and the Dlink is installed on that computer... we'll see... Just a word of advice.. if you get a computer system that works and you think that you can tweek it up to make it work better *and you know fuck all about how computers work*.... just back away from the computer, turn it off, and go bash your head against a brick wall instead.. you'll be happy you did.

Other than that my long weekend was ok.. (after having wasted a full day and a half day on fixer-upper stuff, cursing and trying to prevent R from throwing the computer out the window).. anyone got a spare Vallium?...

It has finally arrived...

Ahhhh.. the head spinning speed of wireless internet... we finally got hooked up out here in the boonies.. and I feel a Zen like calmness settling around me.... my vow to spend less time on the internet once we got off of the mind numbing dial up is but a memory... how could I have been so naive... I still spend the same amount of time in here but it is 99 % productive and 1% waiting as opposed to the other way around.. sort of like the theory that if it's on sale it doesn't matter if you need it or not... it's on sale dam it, why can't you see the logic in that?....
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My son has taken me off of his shun list, at least for now, he's going back out to the west coast from the east and I probably won't see him again until the fall. At least my daughter and her kidlets are nearby.. that girl is a hoot.. I just love her sense of humor and how she can turn any situation into a stand up act.. she should try out for yuck yucks...
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Spring has sprung so early that the dreaded June Bugs are playing a rythmic beat by ramming their nastly little heads against my screens.. I hate to let the dog out at night to do her business because I'm afraid she'll be carrying a few of the gross creatures back in her curly coat.. do you think it would go over well with the vet if I brought her in with big welts where I tried to kill the June bugs with a 2X4?... Didn't think so...
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R is going to be a grandfather again but this time it's one of his son's so if it's a boy it will carry on the family name.. such as it is...

We're into May Already!??!

I can hardly believe it, we're almost half through this year. The older I get the older I get, if you get my drift. I can't seem to be able to relax and enjoy a certain age before I'm on to a new year. This year is the wonderful 55, I remember when I thought 40 was old!!! And that seemed like yesterday. Now even 65, R's age, doesn't seem so old... but I'm a grandmother of a 12 year old arrrrggghhhhh stop the world and let me off.. it's spinning too fast.... I'm afraid that I'll go spinning off into the great beyond before I realise that I'm gone.

As I'm sitting here typing I can hear my little miniate Poodle, Missy, oinking in her sleep.. I swear I'm not lying.. I think she must have been kidnapped by a band of roving pigs when she was a pup..

Did you know that if you pay an extra $70. a month on your mortgage that you can literally drop YEARS off of your end date?... I know, I was shocked too.. we just started doing that last month and will do it again next year and it looks good for it to be paid when I retire in 5-6 years.. ahh the best laid plans of mice and men eh?... At least we can dream. We hope to get a new car in the next year.. I'm hoping for a Toyota Yaris but we're going to start test driving when I start my holidays in August... and we're going to take a note pad along to make pros and cons lists for each one... (did I tell you I was hoping for a Yaris?).

Today is a new day on a new blog...

Ummmm.... I hope you don't want something deep and meaningful today.. I worked my ass off in my garden weeding out my flowerbeds and putting down red cedar mulch so I'm literally out of my mind... but have no fear.. I'll be back.... again.. I'll have you know that I'm a person ruled by compulsion.. I had to do the complete garden this weekend.. could I wait and do some another day?... Hell no... I had to do it all or nothing.. something like my life.. Have you ever felt that?.. Say no and I'll never speak to you again... But I don't hold a grudge... for long anyway... I know that I'll be soooo sore tomorrow.. and tired.. but that never stopped me before.. and it's not going to stop me now...

There's an interesting story behind the heart shaped flower bed.. a couple of years ago there was a Manitoba Maple tree planted where it is now.. it was big and ugly and had a very shallow root system.. and then hurricane Juan visited our fair Island.. and the tree toppled into the yard.. missed the house by inches.. and when we got the stump pulled out of the ground we decided to plant flowers in it's place instead of planting another tree.. because at our age we don't have the luxury of waiting for a tree to mature... and I've had a lot of comments on my flower bed in the summer when the perennials all come into bloom and people think that I spent immeasurable time planning it out.. when in fact I saw some flowers that looked pretty in the garden center and by sheer luck they happen to bloom in succession all summer long.. but I just nod and say "Thank you" when people say that.. who am I to argue?